Crouching Tigress, Hidden Panda
by JustAnotherFangirl27
Summary: Tigress just can't seem to find Po anywhere... What happens when she realizes he's in her room? Hide-and-seek, Kung-fu panda style! Ska-doosh! One-shot. TiPo strong friendship, but can be taken romantically.


Crouching Tigress, Hidden Panda

Tigress coiled her body into a crouch, allowing every animalistic instinct to take over. She growled and stalked forward on all fours, every fibre, every sinew of her being poised for attack. Her sublime grace was rivalled at that moment only by her ferocity. She was the very embodiment of near perfection.

She quieted her breathing as she drew ever nearer to her target, feeling the earth beneath her feet and taking care to make sure that even the slightest noise was stifled. She drew to the perfect position and steeled herself. A ferocious cat-like grin spread across her face and, with an ear shattering yowl meant to momentarily surprise her victim, she pounced.

She ripped through the paper thin walls that separated each of their rooms in the Dojo, feeling only a sliver of guilt – it had been Po's idea after all, so Po could fix it – and landed on a soft, black and white target. She felt no pain or impact from the blow, but she knew it had been fierce since she heard the thump of one of Po's action figures falling off his shelf and observed a chunk of wall fall loose from the shock.

She looked to the bundle beneath her, expecting Po to be surprised for only a few seconds, before exclaiming her awesomeness and then engaging her in combat. But, to her considerable chagrin, it was not Po underneath her. It was the training dummy used to teach children, or prop open the door when it got hot. Level zero, as invented by Po. The fat panda had slimmed down enough from training that the dummy's shadow could pass for him.

Tigress stalked around the panda's room on all fours, the animalistic instinct still slightly present. She growled angrily, and was tempted to throw something, but, as annoying as the panda was and as angry as she was at herself for being tricked by something so obvious, she couldn't destroy anything the panda owned, as he held _certain _attachments to all his worldly possessions, which there actually weren't a lot of. Po wasn't greedy.

Tigress sat, licked her claws and then slowly crossed her legs into a meditative position. She let out a long exhale and worked to relax her muscles and then she went to work figuring out where Po was hidden.

It had been his idea to play hide and seek. Normally, Tigress would have rolled her eyes at the suggestion of such a childish game, even when Po gushed that they could fight each other once they found each other and exclaimed how awesome it would be, but since it had been a long, trying two weeks dealing with a sullen, uncooperative, silent and moody bear she welcomed any return of the old Po. When she agreed to it the other's immediately followed suit, although their body language had spoken that they agreed that the suggestion was childish. Tigress was glad of the fact that Shifu was away on an important mission and wouldn't be there to witness such foolishness.

Tigress was angry that she had fallen for such an easy trick, but also ashamed that she was starting to enjoy a game that children played. _It will be a good practice in strategy and teamwork _she reminded herself. She had found all of the other's already and easily, because she knew nearly everything about them. Shifu had said that to be an effective team, they had to know each other better than they knew themselves, cover each other's weaknesses and above all trust one another explicitly. Thusly, there was very little kept private by the members of the Furious Five. Po was a different matter.

Two weeks ago he had defeated Lord Shen. When they came back he was a different bear, an alien. The worst part was none of them could convince him to talk about it. She didn't know Po anymore and if she didn't know Po then she couldn't find him, because she couldn't think like him.

A deep rumble left her throat as she made a mental tally of all the places she'd already searched for the bear. She'd already searched the entirety of the Dojo, except the other rooms, which she figured Po would never enter without the owner's explicit permission, due to his hero worshipping nature. She searched by the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom and also searched the tiny alcove that led to a tiny cave just under the cliff. She had only found the chess set she and Po used, in secret, when every once and a while neither of them could sleep, and they just wanted to talk and strategize without fist fighting. Po was usually no match for her, but he was improving and had won several times. Every nook and cranny of the grounds she had searched and prodded and probed, until she was sure Po wasn't there. He wouldn't have left the grounds. He never would have made it to the top stair before she finished counting, anyways. _How does a panda with such impressive girth hide so easily?_

She quickly went over the brief set of rules Po had explained earlier to her, wondering if she had missed something that could help her figure out where he was. It had been embarrassing having to ask the rules of hide and seek and admit she'd never played, especially around the others, but she had no choice as they all agreed to pick her as seeker and wouldn't leave until she started counting. At least she hadn't had to explain why as the others already knew about her childhood and could put two and two together.

Reviewing the rules revealed nothing new. That meant the only logical solution was to assume that Po had hidden in one of their rooms. Tigress' eyes snapped open. At first she had been sure that Po would never enter their rooms and she knew under any other circumstances he wouldn't, but this was a game. A game of supposed strategy where hiding in the least expected place was the only way to win and unlike other pursuits Po took games very seriously. Which could only mean he was in her room.

Rage filled her and would have overflowed into a maelstrom that nobody would be safe from had she not been meditating. She took several deep breaths, but while she aimed to dull the emotion she did not quell it completely, as rage, if handled properly, could be an extremely effective tool. Confident she wouldn't outright kill the panda, she got up. She looked towards the hole she had made in Po's wall and decided that as good as it would feel to make another one, she wouldn't. Shifu would make her help fix it, as punishment for her lack of self control, anyways.

Her hands were balled into fists and she stalked quietly, carefully down the hall, aware of every movement, every breath she made. When got to her room she peeked through the slit under the door, as the luxury of a shadowy silhouette through the wall was not to be hers. She was not surprised to see movement from, round feet moving in an agitated and jerky fashion.

_It will be immensely satisfying when I catch him, _Tigress thought to herself, as she stood up and grabbed a door handle in each paw. Taking one last deep breath to control herself she flung the doors open silently and was pleased to see Po's eyes go as round a dinner plates when he saw her in the doorway.

In the span of a second – the second she took to prepare for attack – she noticed the droop of Po's shoulders, the tensing of his limbs and the agitation clearly riddled across his face. She noticed the fear in his eyes, though it was obvious that it was from the thought of impending doom rather than whatever was causing the other side effects. She sighed as her anger drained away. She hated that the bear had such power over her, to render her speechless with concern or have her smiling like a dummy without knowing quite why, without even trying.

"I found you Po," she whispered half-heartedly, as her anger left and mixed with concern. Moody Po was back.

At her words something within Po seemed to shift and click into place and she saw a glimmer of the old Po. It seemed as if a fog was quickly lifting from him as the words she had spoken registered within his brain. Then the walls he had been putting up the past two weeks began to crack. Tigress knew when a wall began to crack that was the best time to attack.

So she pounced on Po. It was immensely satisfy to knock him to the ground and to feel him push her forcefully off himself. She smiled, and though she wished the fight to continue, she decided to end it quickly instead. Po was off because of his moodiness and it was an easy weakness to exploit. She had his arm pinned behind his back and his stomach against the floor in seconds flat, which only worried her more.

"I will excuse the fact that you entered my room without my permission, just this once, panda, because we are playing a game and it was actually very smart of you to hide here. What I will not excuse is the fact that you have been hiding something from us – your _friends. _I know you trust us, so why won't you let us help you feel better about what's bothering you? Be honest, because, Po, you're a horrible liar and I'm not letting you move until you do so!" she whispered fiercely into his ear, lacing her voice with the tiniest twinge of worry to make him feel guilty.

Po mumbled something unintelligible, his mouth shoved hard into the ground, his tongue tasting the carpet on Tigress' floor. She loosened her grip a tiny bit and allowed Po enough space to wiggle his head. He squirmed and struggled a bit but finally managed to get his head into a position where he could talk.

He let out a long sigh of defeat, and cast his eyes towards Tigress, pleadingly, "Please let me up. No more secrets, I'll talk."

Tigress slackened her hold enough that Po could sit up comfortably, but she refused to completely let go of his arm in case she still needed leverage. And maybe she did it because she knew it would comfort him. Maybe.

Po looked at her and she tried to smile encouragingly, but she felt sure it came out as a scowl instead. Regardless, Po seemed to relax a miniscule amount and then he began.

As he slowly knit together the missing pieces of the narrative she herself had played a huge part in her expression changed from one of anger and concern to sympathy and sadness. Po was the last panda in all of China.

"I was gonna tell you guys," Po finished lamely, his voice now only a hoarse whisper, "I mean you guys are awesome right? So awesome you'd be there for me. I knew that but..."

Tigress raised an eyebrow and looked at the panda. Really looked. She had let go of his arm during the story and was now kneeling in front of him, so it was easy to take his entire formidable bulk in. His fur seemed oddly matted and knotted and his eyes were bloodshot almost as red as hers. He hadn't look that bad from a far, but now she could see how much of a toll his worry had really taken.

She had appraised him for a minute or more and had Po been himself he would have been both curious and scared by her staring. But Po was not himself.

"But what?" Tigress prompted slowly, carefully trying to start up the conversation again.

"I feel lost." Po shook his head, as though trying to clear it. "I came to peace with my past, with what Shen did, and I found out who I was. And I was reminded of all the good things that I'd gained, such as my father and the title of Dragon Warrior, and that I defeated Tai Lung and all the new friends I had and how much I cared for them."

Tigress felt as though Po was talking about her specifically, because of the way he was looking at her when he said it and she wondered, was it possible? But then she reminded herself it was silly, a panda falling for her. She yanked herself from her reverie and was relieved to hear Po still listing things off. The relief quickly changed to annoyance when she figured out Po was deliberately dragging the explanation out.

"Po, I don't mean to be rude, but can you get to the point?" she asked as politely as she could despite the annoyance she felt.

Po looked hurt, but he swallowed it, like he'd swallowed every bit of abuse she put him through before he proved himself, and continued, "I'm the only panda left. In all of China. I know who I was, but now I have no idea who or what I should become. I know I'm going to continue my training, that was a given, and protect the weak, but what else? I had known for a long time that I was the only panda in this part of China, but I'd always thought there were more somewhere else, ya know? But now, I don't even have the chance to re-populate, to learn what pandas do or how they act. I'm alone and lost."

He said 'lost' slowly, as if chewing over it and Tigress felt her breath hitch inside her as realization filled her.

"I found you, Po. I found you," she repeated, softly, gently. She put her hand on his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze as his eyes widened and the world seemed to lift from his shoulders. Before she realized it his furry arms were around her and he was squeezing her against him with all his might, laying his head into the crook of her shoulders as he fought back tears because of course Dragon Warriors didn't cry.

Tigress struggled against the suffocating mass of fur and then, after working her face free, in a tone closer to her usual, she remarked, "I'll always find you, no matter where you hide, so don't even try. And Po, if you want to know about pandas then the great library at the capital will hold all the answers."

It seemed odd to Tigress that Po would feel so instantly relieved at her words. _But, perhaps, _Tigress thought to herself, _he himself only just figured out what it really was that was bothering him._

Po sniffled and released her from the crushing hug, pulling her into a standing position with him. He blinked his eyes hard several times, trying to keep his composure, and sucked in several long breaths. When he looked down at her again she noted that he looked better than he had in days.

Po coughed loudly and then asked her, "So, who did you find first? Monkey? Crane? Mantis? Did they have cool hiding spots? What moves did you use to fight them? It must have been awesome!"

"First to be found was monkey, of course all the fights were awesome, and I found the other's rather quickly because their hiding spots were nowhere near as impressive as yours was," Tigress spoke in practiced tones. Normally she wouldn't inflate the bear's ego as much as she was, but considering the circumstances she was willing to flatter him as much as he wanted if it meant he would start acting normal again.

Po snorted and half-smiled. He knew the compliment wasn't as sincere as she pretended but he didn't say anything and instead decided to speak, "Well, since you found monkey first then it's his turn to be seeker. I guess we should go tell him..."

He finished lamely not exactly sure how to continue. They had to leave sooner or later. But that meant soon he'd have to tell the rest of the five his story and possibly Shifu and the hard emotions would return and Tigress probably wouldn't hug him when he was surrounded by all those people. As futile as he knew it was he hoped somehow that Tigress would say let's stay so that such a peaceful moment wouldn't be ruined.

But Po's hopes were dashed when Tigress nodded and turned towards her door, Po following a few steps behind.

She turned quickly so that she was nose to nose Po and then in a soft, too sweet tone she said, "Oh, and panda, if you ever go into my room again without my explicit permission, you will die a slow and agonizing death, and I will use every kung-fu move that I know."

"That would be so cool!" Po shouted excitedly at the thought of new kung-fu moves, then realizing what the rest of the threat meant he drained of all color and murmured, "Well, except for the dying part."

And then Tigress giggled, and Po swore he saw her grin and he knew she was only joking. After all, Shifu would be very disappointed if his only Dragon Warrior was to die. He had no doubt though that Tigress would beat him black and blue.

They stared at each other for a few moments and then averted their eyes at the same time, both unsure what to say or do next as the room filled with an awkward silence.

Then a thought flew into Po so fast he almost didn't have time to grasp it, but he managed and then, turning it over, inspecting it's finer points, the thought became a plan and a devious twinkle entered Po's eyes and left subtle hints in the lines of his smile.

Tigress noticed immediately, and her ears perked up the tiniest bit. Po had a devious side, that she had witnessed a few times before and once been one the receiving end of. His creativity and spontaneity only made it worse, but Tigress had a feeling this particular burst of mischievousness would not be directed towards her.

"Tigress, could you go tell the others that you've found me and that monkey is now the seeker, and that I've already hidden,"

Po was hinting, obviously, so Tigress took the hint and ran with it. "Po?" She asked, feigning embarrassment.

The ball was in his court.

"Yes?" Po asked in reply, but he thought he knew the answer already.

As simple as that it was back in hers.

"Do the rules of hide-and-seek say anything against two people hiding together?"

He had simply been suggesting that he would be stealing some of monkey's cookies, but it seemed Tigress had something else in mind. Po ran through a gambit of emotions as her meaning became clear to him. Surprise, wonder, worry, confusion and –Tigress wasn't sure – but maybe... happiness? His mouth had dropped as soon as the words had registered and his eyes had grown to the size of the soup bowl he ate from.

Po had fumbled, she had intercepted and it was a clear shot to the goal.

She turned to leave, but first pushed the panda's mouth closed with one finger and shot him a coy glance before leaving. She heard him breath heavily, and out of the corner of her eye saw him frozen his mouth gaping again.

3...2...1... Point.

Po snapped out of it and came racing after her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he babbled. It took a few moments but finally he regained composure and replied to her question as he walked in step with her.

"No there's no rule against two people hiding together. Who'd you have in mind?" he tried to ask causally, but he couldn't stop the tangled rush the words became.

Tigress paused as if considering her words. Then she spoke, saying every syllable slowly, drawing it out, savouring it, like she secretly did with Po's soup.

"A... friend. Someone I talk to a lot. Someone to whom I can tell anythin–"

Po's face fell immediately, and it seemed as though he went deaf for a few seconds while he thought _Of course, it's Viper. She's the only other girl and she's awesome! Why was I so stupid to think it was me?_

Po's hearing returned just in time to prevent him from pounding away and actually hiding.

" –He's black and white and we play chess sometimes. I was hoping to play again tonight. You know him?" Tigress finished slyly.

"Actually I do." Po replied, somewhat enjoying the game now that he realized what was going on.

"Good!" exclaimed Tigress, "Tell him to meet me there as soon as possible and make sure you remind him to hurry up or Monkey will catch him."

Po nodded quickly as they came to a fork in the hallway, Tigress turning left to leave the building and find the other's while Po turned right to go to the kitchen.

A warm breath tickled Po's cheek just as he reached the door to the kitchen, and a whisper soft as silk entered his ear.

"Grab some of Monkey's cookies for me, please, panda, as he hasn't learnt to share."

He continued into the kitchen quickly, already planning how to reach the top shelf as a nearly indistinguishable black and orange form, peeled away and melted into the shadows to leave the Dojo.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>First off, since I know it's going to happen, since it's happened to my other stories, (and I say this so there will be no future disappointment) this is a one-shot and that is how it will stay, so don't add it to story alert and expect a second chapter. If you are interested in more KfP from me, then I am planning another one-shot titled 'Guilty Pleasures'. You guys can come to your own conclusions from that title, the actual story well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Secondly, I don't own KfP.

Thirdly, I'd like to thank Kraven Ergeist, for the inspiration for the story and for the title, which he/she thought would be a good title for a KfP fic, and wanted soemone to make one. Also, his/her story is awesome and you should give it a read. Link is on my profile!


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